Don't Pee on the Bee

Relish the Reindeer!

So . . . bee in my bonnet . . . Saw this on the December/January 2011 Family Fun magazine cover awhile ago . . .   probably last month! . . . and thought that I just had to try making these!  Fast forward to today . . . Sarah's preschool holiday show is Thursday, and I volunteered to make something for the dessert bar.

Here is what my kitchen looked like earlier . . .

 

 

 

 

 

And then a little later . . . These are the "crazed" reindeer (with no pupils in their eyes) and their yet-to-be-created brethren!

 
And finally . . . the piece de resistance!

 

Not too bad, eh?  I did have to make some adjustments to the recipe, but I think I did OK!  I'll tell you that breaking those pretzels into a great antler shape is not as easy as it looks!  Also, I had a heck of a time finding white M&M's so opted for white frosting instead.  That made putting the black gel eyes on a bit messier.  But who cares?  They look cute enough, and I know the kids will love eating them!  And isn't that what we're talkin' 'bout here???

One More Family Fun Thing

This doesn't have a thing to do with crafts or recipes, but I absolutely loved it!  Family Fun has a column called 1 Problem, 3 Solutions where parents send in their solutions to an asked-about problem.  The topic this month?  Tattling!  Perfect timing for us.  And in my mind, these three moms are brilliant!

So the question posed was How do you discourage tattling? 

Laurie Hamilton, a mom and teacher from North Carolina, said that when she was a teacher, she made a tattle box and set a pad of paper and a marker next to it.  She told the kids to write down their "tattle" and put it in the box.  She said that it cut down on the tattling and helped the kids with their writing skills!

The next mom, Kristi Couch from Kentucky, has a 3- and a 4-year-old.  She makes her kids say one positive thing about the other whenever they tattle.  According to her, they make fewer small complaints--which honestly(!) isn't it the small things that really drive us over the edge?  That's definitely how my kids get to me!  Inch by inch.  Small gripe by small gripe.  Give me a big ol' blow-up every once in awhile over those small ones any day.  (Listening to one right now!  Stop!  Stop!  Stop!)

And Michele Messick of Maryland blew up a photo of an ear and taped it to the wall.  She has an 8-year- old and a 5-year-old, and she says that when she asks them to "tell it to the ear," it works wonders.  They get a spot to vent, and she doesn't have to listen.

I'm going to try the "tell me one nice thing about the other person" tip and see how that goes.  Otherwise, the ear may be next!

Before October Gets Away!

I thought I'd better get with it with all of my October magazines piling up!  Too many cute ideas to let get past!  The October 2010 issue of Family Fun has lots of great stuff!  And, as I keep reminding all of you, I am not super crafty, but some of these things I think I might try!  (Now I've said that before, so don't hold your breath!)

Check out the cute Glassy I.D. project where a picture frame and those flat glass "marbles" that you put in the bottom of a flower vase--I'm sure there is a real name for them!--makes a simple mosaic.  They made an initial, but you could do anything with them!  (Even I know that!)

Once upon a time, when macrame was in, there was a young girl who was totally into it.  (That would be me.)  And now there is a macrame-reminiscent project that, again, I am feeling compelled to make.  Weave an Autumn Tree and get your macrame on!

And who can resist bread pudding?  Surely not I!  Check out the pumpkin variation of this recipe.  It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.  And for another yummy sounding recipe that is also smart, check out the Chocolate-Drizzled Trail Mix.   Instead of having your kids always pick out the chocolate pieces in the trail mix, drizzle the chocolate over it all so they eat every bite!

And for 2 more freaky recipes, check out the Mummy Meatloaf.  Kind of weird looking, but I might try it just to freak out my kids!  But these Swamp Creatures are sooo funny but kind of creepy looking too.  I wonder what my kids would say if I put these down in front of them.  And really--who thinks up these things? (I have a whole post brewing on "picky eaters," and this just adds some spice to my thoughts!)

Hope you're having a good day!

Finally!

Today I was gearing up to get some work done on this upcoming training I'm doing on Monday.  (I'm working with teens, by the way.   Let me tell you, getting some of them to pay attention and respond to me is not much different than trying to talk to JJ while he is watching Word World!)  But when I sat down to work, I realized there was no gas in my intelligence tank, and I would sit here for hours and get nothing done.  So I did what any smart mom would do--I made my lunch, sat on the couch, watched an episode of Cougar Town and then read a magazine.  I will admit that while I still feel zonked out, I do feel much happier than I did earlier in the day!

I breezed through the May 2010 issue of Family Fun, and there was a super cute idea for Mother's Day.  It was suggested that the dads try it for mom, but I think it would be more successful if we moms did it for our own moms!  I won't get to it this year, but actually, you could do it anytime!

The idea is to find a picture of yourself when you were a girl and try to replicate it with your own daughter.  (Duh--I guess this would work for men and boys too!)  So if you were in front of a tree in a pink shirt and black skirt, try to create a similar photo with your daughter, and then give both photos to your mom.  The example they showed in the magazine was really cute! 

There were some other good ideas in there that I'll try and get to in the next few days.  If you like this magazine, they are having an amazing offer with 4 subscriptions for $20.  A great gift for other moms and teachers!  I gave a subscription to a friend and also my kids' teacher at Christmas.  They both love it!

Gratitude and Sacrifice

I blogged about Family Fun magazine earlier this week but wanted to share one piece of it at the end of the week.  Good Friday seems like a good day to talk one more time about gratitude as well as sacrifice.  Family Fun had sponsored a Volunteers Contest and asked families to share how they volunteer and help out their communities.  There are definitely a lot of families out there doing some really amazing things!

I was particularly inspired by the Titus family from Colorado.  Tiffani Titus wanted her family to volunteer but had a difficult time finding opportunities that could include her young children.  She persevered and the family did what they called 52 Weeks of Giving, doing one good deed each week.  I loved some of the things that she came up with!  Check out more of her ideas here.  (You'll have to adjust the font once you get on the page.)  Super inspiring to me!  Gives me lots to think about, that's for sure!

Great stuff in Family Fun this month!

I am so proud of myself.  I've been making my way through the April stack of magazines and am organized enough to share some cute ideas about Easter before it is past!  (Funny what will impress us about ourselves some days!)  With the March issue, it was weeks past St. Patrick's Day before I posted about the cute cupcakes!

So today--days before Easter!--click here for an easy way to help your kids dye eggs AND for a great idea for what to stuff in an egg for an Easter egg hunt!  I think this is one of the best parts of this magazine--My Great Idea!  Real moms sending in great ideas for practical things that work!  And I, for one, did not put candy or food inside the eggs that I sent to school for my kids Easter egg hunt.  I went the sticker route, and I made certain to assure the kids' teacher that the eggs weren't empty just because they felt so light!

Switching gears slightly, you all know how I feel about gratitude!  Well, there was another great idea in this month's magazine about practicing gratitude for our bodies.  The writers suggest writing the names of body parts on cards and then having each person choose a card and say one nice (or grateful) thing about that body part.  For example, if I chose eyes, I would say, "Thank you, eyes, for letting me read so many magazines and books and blogs and recipes and . . ."  I guess I would have to stop somewhere!  This is particularly apropos for me as I started working out last week at the gym, and my body is letting me know how hard it has been working!  At the same time, I swear I look thinner! (Smile)

And finally, there was one other article in the magazine that I thought was a real winner.  How about planning a brunch with your family or friends instead of dinner?  At dinner, it's the end of the day, or a long week, everyone has been busy all day, maybe is used to being in bed around 7 p.m.  But in the late morning, everyone is refreshed, feeling pretty good, no naps or bedtime in sight for awhile.  I think it sounds like a great thing to try!   Plus I love brunchy food!

If you're crafty, it's definitely worth a peek to the Family Fun April 2010 web page.  Lots of ideas, recipes and other good stuff! 

Some Fun Treats

The March 2010 issue of Family Fun magazine had some cute treats for the kids.  I loved these butterfly treats and can definitely see myself making something like this for the kids' birthday parties at school.  I know that some of my family still think that I am a Scrooge when it comes to treats and sugar and such, but that's OK with me!  And I think that any of my kids' friends (and their moms!) would love these!

That being said, when I saw this recipe, I immediately wanted to make these!  I think my kids would flip if they got to eat one of these rainbow cupcakes!  And even though St. Patrick's Day is over, I think that these would be a hit any day of the year!  If you haven't clicked over yet, you've got to see this picture!